Series: Taking Time
Title: Patriarch
Author: Harmony
Rating: PG-13
Description: Buffy and Spike go back in time, and see the events that shaped their lives, and that will change their relationship forever.
Pairing: B/S
Disclaimer: The characters are merely my puppets for the day. Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy are head puppeteer guys. They pull the strings.
Distribution: Free Again (http://www.441creative.com/jo) and anyone else I've given permission to. If you want it, e-mail me: harmony@441creative.com
Feedback: Imagine a world without shrimp. Well, I really like shrimp. Feedback is my shrimp.
Dedications: Well…my family as usual. And you know what? James Marsters, and Sarah Michelle Gellar. Cos they create these characters for me.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++
With a sick thud, Spike landed on the rain soaked cobbles. Seconds later, seemingly from nowhere, Buffy fell onto him.
They stayed that way for a minute, getting their bearings, before Buffy jumped up.
"Stupid dumb smoke people" she muttered to herself, brushing down her clothing, and not bothering to offer Spike a hand up.
Sighing, he stood up, and discreetly looked Buffy over, checking she was okay from her fall.
A white shirt, and a skirt, that brushed the damp stones beneath her feet, replaced her pyjamas.
"Somehow, I knew it…that Klenser woman…made me look like a librarian!"
Spike brushed himself off, and looked around
"Her name was Kerensa," he said. Buffy glared at the back of his head
"Oh yes of course, you two might well have had sex…it wouldn't have been as embarrassing to watch"
Spike suppressed a smile. She really was jealous of something.
"Someone's got a case of the green eyed monster…so Slayer, tell me, have you ever wanted to go to Ireland?"
"I am not jealous… and no. I've never wanted to go to Ireland" Buffy sighed
Spike looked around fascinated, and wondered for a minute if Buffy would let him have a beer in the tavern.
"Well, you're in Ireland…late 1700's I'd say" Spike started off, his eyes twinkling as he stood outside the opening of an alleyway.
+++
"Angelus…I love you…you know that?" Spike slurred, leaning
on the arm of his mentor. They staggered, holding one another up
"Aye my boy…I love you too" Angel fell to the floor, his
face in a small puddle.
Spike's amusement started as a small giggle, and
developed into a drunken laugh; as he bent down to pick Angel up.
"Ange'us, you'll never find supper down there," he said
through his giggles. The whisky bottle slipped from his grasp, and shattered on
the floor.
"William, it's good to be home," Angel muttered, bringing
his head up. Half his face was covered with mud, and Spike began to laugh
again, as he tried to wipe away the mess with his sleeve.
Spike and Angelus had insisted on dragging Drusilla and
Darla back to Galway, to celebrate Spike's 10 years as a vampire, for a good
old fashioned bar crawl. The women had gone hunting together, whilst they went
out with little intention other than to get amazingly drunk.
Angelus made his way to his feet, and adjusted his
clothing
"Food, William?" he said, attempting to sound sober and
failing.
Spike pulled the bottle from Angelus' hand and downed the
remainders.
Angel stalked away, spotting two women walking by the
alleyway they were partially hidden in.
Spike followed, eventually falling into step with the
older vampire
Angelus' calm face belied any of his true intent as he
tapped the fair-haired woman on the shoulder. Spike positioned himself in front
of the other blonde haired girl.
"Excuse me…I was wondering where we could find a bed for
the night?" Angelus asked.
Spike wrapped an arm around the blonde woman's waist and
pulled her flush. Too scared to scream, she simply gasped, as Spike led her
back into the alleyway. Angelus followed with his catch, choosing the much more
subtle looped arms approach.
"You're scared" Spike asked his girl. Angelus watched
over his shoulder and giggled, drunkenly
"Stupid question, my boy" he laughed, stroking his meals
hair.
"Shall we dine, Angelus, you big poof?" Spike asked, as
his vamp face came to the surface.
With a small growl, Angel followed suit, and smiled at
Spike
"We'll dine, you…" Angelus searched for an insult "bad
poet" he finished with a giggle
Simultaneously, the two male vampires sunk their fangs
into the necks of the woman, making hungry feeding noises. They were none too
gentle with the girls, as they drained their life, in an overtly sexual manner.
Dropping the dead bodies, Angelus and Spike stood facing
each other for a few seconds, before Spike pulled another bottle of whisky from
his coat.
"Mine tasted strange" Spike started off, stumbling on an
invisible rock.
+++
Buffy followed behind as Spike walked off, occasionally laughing at memories that she'd rather not hear about.
"So Slayer, what do you think you'll feel like at the end of all this?" Spike asked, leaning against the wall of the tavern he'd spotted earlier.
Buffy sniffed, and felt around in her pockets for weapons. She had none. Not even a concealed stake.
"I think I'll work out a way to keep you out of anywhere I happen to be" she said, still checking for weapons should they run into trouble.
"You will have to learn to be nice for the sake of getting home, Buffy. A little politeness wouldn't be too much to ask would it?" Spike gazed longingly at the tavern door. He could really do with a beer.
"How polite was anything you did in recent memory?" she snapped back
"I apologised" he retorted. As she was about to inform him of the uselessness of his apologies, the door swung open, and two men practically fell out, not aided by the proprietor of the tavern pushing them.
"Keep the girls warm!" a thick Irish accent shouted. Spike's eyes widened, and a broad smile came across his face. Buffy watched as the longhaired man dropped his obviously inebriated friend, and began to bang on the door. When he got no answer, he made his way back to his fallen friend and lifted him up. They started off unsteadily, holding one another up.
"Come on. We'll sneak in and take some o' me fathers silver" the taller of the two men said, "He'll never miss it. Eats with his hands, the pig"
Spike turned to face Buffy with the smile still firmly in place. Her face was registering something resembling recognition and denial. That voice was oddly familiar.
"Is…is..that Angel?" she whispered, immediately feeling stupid for asking.
"It's the Angel I remember," he muttered, following the two men. Buffy followed, feeling more lost than Spike did.
Angel's friend fell down onto the pavement, unable to continue. Angel simply watched him fall
"Ah, why don't you rest right here?" he mumbled.
Spike jumped back as Angel turned around. Buffy gave him a confused look, and followed suit, slinking into the shadows.
"Why are you hiding?" she whispered, as Spike watched from the shadows.
"If Angelus sees me…don't step on creepy crawlies" he replied.
"Excuse me while I say huh?" she quipped
Spike watched Angel walk in the direction of an alleyway.
"You know…you shouldn't step on creepy crawlies, cos it could change history. Similarly, if Angelus sees me now, he might stop and not do something that hey, could result in your not being born"
Wanting to investigate further, Spike grabbed Buffy's arm to lead her across the street to the back alley. Buffy however cleared her throat.
"Spike…bodily contact" she sniffed. Spike looked down at his arm, and dropped it immediately.
"Well come on then" he urged, walking off across the street.
Buffy watched him go, and took a deep breath. This was going to be a lot tougher than she imagined. She was in a strange place she didn't know, with a vampire she didn't want to know, seeing her ex boyfriend drunk, acting in a manner that did not resemble the man she'd fallen in love with.
Sighing, she wandered across the street, and took place beside Spike behind a beer barrel.
From here they could see Angel stalking a noblewoman with blonde hair, and a white dress.
"Is he going to kill her?" Buffy asked, fear in her voice. It occurred to her then, that she'd never seen Angelus kill anyone. She'd only experienced the disastrous after effects. Her chest felt tight whenever she thought of Jenny.
With a sigh, Spike shook his head
"This isn't that Angel I remember at all. This would be hairgel pre vamp. He told me about this. Darla sired him in an alleyway" Spike clarified, as the woman turned around to face Angel, revealing herself as Darla.
"Are you certain you're up to the challenge?" she purred coquettishly.
Buffy almost snorted with laughter
"Oh please…it's wicked obvious that she's a vampire" she said, quietening as Spike raised a finger to his mouth.
Angel however, walked towards Darla. They both stalked each other in different ways. Angel looking for another woman to add to his list, and Darla looking for a companion.
"M'lady, you'll find that with the exception of an honest days work, there's no challenge I'm not prepared to face" Angel came to a stop in front of the seemingly shy woman "Oh, but you're a pretty thing. Where are you from?"
Buffy felt a pang tug at her heart. Was it wrong to feel jealous about something that happened 200 years before you were born? As she watched Angel and Darla openly flirt, she felt exactly that. This was her poetry reading, brooding, loving ex?
"Around, everywhere" Darla replied with a smile
"I've never been anywhere myself. Always wanted to see the world, but-"
Darla cut him off, her eyes sparkling
"I could show you" her voice remained full of mystery, and sexuality.
"Could you then?"
Buffy seemed to realise something, and began looking around the alleyway, wildly. Spike caught her movements, and reluctantly tore his eyes away from Darla's seduction.
"What are you doing?" he asked
"I have to kill her…I have to save him," she said, close to tears.
"What? No you don't" Spike replied, grabbing her arm again, as she spotted a plank of wood lying on the ground.
"If he doesn't become a vampire…you wouldn't understand. He was so unhappy" Buffy's protests became flustered.
"It is…and frightening" Darla said.
Spike turned back for a second, annoyed to have missed some of what he thought was a damn good show. Popcorn wouldn't be out of place.
"Buffy, you can't kill Darla. If she never sires Angel then he never sires Dru, and then I don't get turned" Spike gripped the arm a little tighter, so she was just out of reach of the wood. His chip didn't seem to be activating.
"Explain the badness in your not living, Spike. You don't understand…you don't. He lived in torment because of all he did when he became a vampire. He had nightmares. I can't let that happen again"
Buffy reached out with her boot, and flicked the wood into the air, catching it in her hand.
"I'm not afraid…show me. Show me your world" Angel spoke, oblivious to the argument going on in the shadows.
Spike struggled to hold on, as Buffy tried to get away.
"Buffy! You can't. Never mind me. If I never get turned, then fine. But you kill her now, and Angel stays like he is now. A drunk, womanising possibly criminal loser. I hate to say it, but that is lower than the gigantic poof he is now. And as soon as you stick that through her heart, every memory you ever had of him will die, just like that"
Buffy calmed down now, and ripped her arm away from Spike's grip. She didn't move to kill Darla, instead stood watching the scene unfold with tears running down her face.
"Close your eyes" Darla ordered, closing hers as an example. Angel complied, and she sunk her now sharp teeth into his neck. Buffy choked back a sob as he gasped in pain, and fell to his knees.
Darla drank some more, before standing and drawing a nail across the top of her breast.
Spike had never seen a turning from the outside before. He'd never even turned someone before. Normally he'd drink and leave the swapping blood part to Dru. It wasn't his type of thing. He got a feeling he shouldn't be watching. It was a private moment.
Spike turned away, and let Buffy watch. She didn't know about vampire turning. Maybe it would help her think of it as something other than "trading up on the food chain"
Darla pressed Angel's mouth to the blood, and watched him drink as she sank to her knees.
Buffy stormed past Spike, giving him a glare that told him one more word would result in a stake to the chest.
---
"Buffy, you can't possibly be thinking of blaming me for that" Spike shouted, as he ran after her.
"I'll tell you exactly what I'm thinking" Buffy replied, whirling to face him "I think I have just watched the love of my life become a monster…again"
Spike winced. She'd aimed the monster part at him.
"Come on pet…I wasn't the one doing the biting" he pleaded as she started off again.
"Don't call me that. I am not your pet. I told you…you just don't understand. Now I'm going to find somewhere to sleep, because I'm really tired"
Spike threw his hands up, and followed her. He wasn't sure where she was heading.
"Where can we sleep?" he asked
"I don't care where you sleep. I'm going to find an inn, or something" she sighed.
Spike shrugged, and walked a few steps behind her, giving her space.
After a few minutes, she looked up at a building.
"Look, when you were told not to make contact with anyone, did it translate as make contact with as many people as possible?" Spike asked, as she ignored him and walked into the building advertising rooms. A small bell above the door heralded her arrival.
"Yes? What can I do for you?" the owner, a small matronly woman asked, popping up from behind a door.
Spike rolled his eyes. She really was stubborn.
"I'd like a room, please" she asked, fixing a smile on her face.
"We have only the one available…" the owner replied.
Buffy groaned under her breath. She didn't think she could stand a night with Spike.
"That's…fine, Thankyou…but I'm afraid we don't have anything to pay you"
Spike checked his pockets, and shrugged.
As the owner fixed Buffy with an annoyed look, Spike stepped up beside Buffy, and put his arm around her
"We're terribly sorry. My wife and I…we were robbed. Maybe we could work for our room?" Spike flashed the woman a smile.
Buffy smiled nervously, and the owner's face softened.
"Well, dear… you could owe me" she replied "I'm Mrs Catton, call me Sarah. I'll get your key, so you can sleep. You must have been through a terrible time"
"Oh…yes Thankyou" Buffy smiled again. As soon as Sarah disappeared, Buffy turned to Spike with a glare.
"Wife? I'm not your wife. I wouldn't marry you if my life depended on it. I hate you. Not only am I stuck here, but you insist on making my life a misery while it's happening" Buffy turned away and began to look at pictures on the wall.
Spike just worked hard to contain a smile. Mr and Mrs Buffy Summers, he thought with a grin.
Sarah came back, holding a key.
"Straight up the stairs, and it's the first door on the left. If you could sign the guest book?"
Buffy took the key, and started up the stairs
"Would you take care of that, darling?" she said, as she disappeared out of sight.
Spike turned back to Sarah, and smiled.
All thoughts of changing history long gone, Spike took a pen, and in flowing handwriting signed their name.
"Mr and Mrs Summers"
---
When Spike walked into the room, Buffy lay on one side of the double bed, with her hands behind her head. She didn't acknowledge his presence.
She looked to be extremely angry at a crack in the ceiling.
Spike slipped his jacket off and threw it onto a chair.
"I'm sorry about the wife thing," he muttered, pulling his t-shirt out of the waistband of his jeans.
"S'okay" she replied. Spike shook his head, thinking he'd heard wrong.
She turned her focus to him, as he reached for a pillow.
Silently, he threw it onto the floor, preparing a bed for himself. Really, he was so wired he doubted he could sleep. He'd just travelled through time. A big thing really. The sun had just begun to creep into the sky. It was early…or late.
Curiously, he looked about the room, and spotted a bookshelf, with a couple of well read books in them.
"You don't mind if I…uh, read, do you?" he asked, picking up a book. Buffy turned at a sizzling sound. Spike dropped the book, in pain, and twisted his head to read the cover.
"The holy bible…" he muttered "There you go, Summers. Add that to your vamp deterrent list"
Buffy hid a smile and went back to glaring at the ceiling.
Spotting a copy of the Connaught Journal on the small table beside the bed, he opted to read that instead. No fear of burns there.
Spike settled back into the armchair, and flicked the paper open. Buffy turned to shout at him, for making too much noise, when she noticed he was squinting at the page.
She watched him bring the paper closer to his face, and shake his head over words he obviously couldn't read.
"I never knew you were illiterate," she teased, rolling onto her side. She could go back to hating him in the morning. For now, his inability to read the newspaper was just too adorable.
"I'm not bloody illiterate" he replied, closing the paper, and setting it down "I'll have you know I can read perfectly well"
Buffy raised an eyebrow
"Oh really? What's with the squinting? Do you need glasses?"
"No!" he replied, a little too quickly "Of course I don't. Have I ever worn glasses? No. So I don't need glasses"
Buffy just shrugged and rolled onto her back again. Spike eyed her warily before sliding out of the armchair and down onto the floor.
His blonde head popped up over the edge of the comforter, and his hand pulled at the neck of his t-shirt. Buffy's eyes widened as he pulled the shirt off, and she rolled to face away from him. Half naked Spike wasn't good.
"G'night then" he said, as he lay down again. Buffy mumbled a goodnight in response.
Neither slept, instead staring ahead of them. Spike eyed the wooden furniture in the room, hoping Buffy wouldn't stake him in his sleep, and Buffy worried she'd wake up in chains again.
"Spike?" she whispered to the deathly quiet room
"Hmm?"
"Where is Angel now?"
"In Los Angeles" he replied, the "duh" tone evident in his voice.
"No…I mean now. Here in Ireland"
"Oh. Well…very much dead. I think Darla took him to wherever she was staying and waited for him to rise. He always talked about waking up on a table," Spike laughed a little at the memory. Buffy still sounded distraught by not being able, or allowed, to help Angel.
"Oh" she replied, "He used to scream"
Spike wrinkled his nose in confusion
"Who did?"
"Angel…in his sleep. When I slept next to him, he'd cry out names, and wake up shaking…" Buffy sniffed back tears. Spike wasn't sure what he should do, but he'd never felt more compelled to hold her.
"I'd imagine he did…"
"He called for Drusilla sometimes" Buffy heard a deep breath coming from the floor "I think it was because she was his biggest crime…you know?"
Buffy heard a muffled "yes" coming from Spike, and decided to stop the conversation
"The sun's coming up" she said, looking out at the rose coloured sky.
"Yeah"
The bed had been pushed against the windowless wall, and Spike was sleeping right in the way of any light that should shine through.
Buffy got up with a sigh, and shut the curtains. He watched her, and caught her eye as she slid back into bed. It wasn't much, but to Spike she might as well have kissed him. She'd closed the curtains so he wouldn't be hurt. Even after everything he did.
"No problem" she replied.
Spike fell asleep with a smile on his face.
TBC…